


How Could I Want For Anything More?

by littlebitlostandfound



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: 5+1 Things, Baby BSL, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:08:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlebitlostandfound/pseuds/littlebitlostandfound
Summary: Five times Cathy encourages Mae to sign, and the one time she does so unprompted.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	How Could I Want For Anything More?

Parr has only ever heard about it, but she was fascinated by the idea of being able to communicate and converse with her daughter before she could start talking. Over the next few weeks, she threw herself into research and took online classes to make sure she was doing the motions correctly.

“Hey baby,” Parr croons, picking Mae up from her crib and settling her on her hip. She’s already learned as much as she could, so she figured there was no time to try like the present. She frees up her arm and holds up her hand, making an open-close motion. “Milk? Are you hungry?”

Mae stares at her hand for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing slightly before smacking her lips. Parr smiles as she guides her tiny hand, opening and closing her fist for her. “Milk. That’s right. We’ll work on this a bit more, okay?”

She doesn’t expect her daughter to respond with sign immediately, but she was willing to keep it up. Parr takes the bottle from the bedside and Mae immediately latches on and grabbing it in her own hands, making her chuckle.

“You act like I don’t feed you.” Parr tuts, but her face was clearly teasing. Mae only coos.

* * *

Parr has managed to inject sign in her everyday one-sided conversations with her daughter, much to the amusement and awe of the other queens. All of them have even risen to the occasion and picked up a few words themselves, just so they could reinforce what Parr’s been teaching to Mae.

“Do you want some more?” Parr asks Mae the minute she sees the bowl of mashed bananas empty, tapping the front of her right hand to the back of her left twice. “More?”

Mae bangs on the table of her high chair, babbling happily as she swings her legs back and forth. Aragon catches this exchange and with a soft smile, plucks a banana from the counter and watches Parr guide Mae’s palms together to mimic the sign.

“Here, like this,” Parr repeats, and huffs when she notices Mae making grabby hands towards what Aragon was holding. An idea flashes through Parr’s mind and after a quick thank you, takes the fruit from her godmother and holds it in front of Mae.

“Want more, Mae?” Parr asks, then promptly puts the banana down on the table before copying Mae’s grabby hands. Mae gurgles and repeats the motion, making Parr squeal with delight.

“Yes, baby girl! Good, more!” Parr leans down to kiss Mae’s forehead as she breaks the fruit in half and mashes it into her bowl. Aragon witnesses the whole thing and places a hand on the crown of Parr’s head, smiling as proudly as she can.

* * *

After the initial breakthrough, Parr has learned to be more lenient with the signs, still teaching her proper words but allowing her daughter to take charge and simply reinforcing her preferred motions.

Jane and Parr were watching over their children crawl around the living room as they take their afternoon tea, and Mae sits herself down by Parr’s feet, reaching for her knee as she hoists herself up to stand.

“Someone’s feeling confident today,” Jane notices, and Parr grins, resisting the urge to pull her up into her lap. Mae’s legs could only stand strong for so long before her knees buckle and she falls flat on her bum.

“Oh, are you alright, baby? Does it hurt?” Parr asks, tapping her two index fingers together. Mae startles for a moment before her bottom lip juts out, tears starting to roll down her cheeks as she cries. Parr couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle before gathering her from the floor into her arms.

“Oh, hush now, you’re okay, just a little whoopsie daisy,” Parr hums, and Mae calms down after a while. Parr looks to her side and notices Jane looking at them with tender eyes.

“How’s the signing going?” Jane asks, scooting a bit closer to them so she could rub Mae’s back.

“We’ve only been at it for a few weeks,” Parr shares, setting down Mae on her lap and allowing her to gum on a piece of bread. “They mostly go over her head but you know, I’m sure she’ll get it eventually.”

“I’ve been meaning to introduce Edward to it, actually,” Jane brings up, slightly apprehensive. “How did you start with Mae?”

Parr beams.

* * *

“Cathy, perfect timing!” Anna hollers from the door, spotting Parr with Mae on her hip taking a teething ring from the freezer. “Look what I’ve found, I thought of Mae immediately.”

Parr smiles at her friend’s thoughtfulness, and gasps in surprise when Anna takes out a box filled with wooden blocks.

“Look at what Anna got you, darling,” Parr hikes Mae higher up, pointing at the gift. Mae continues to gnaw on the teething ring.

“They’re alphabet blocks, I made sure they’re the ones with the rounded corners, and look,” Anna grins, opening the box and taking one out to show her. “They’ve got the little finger signs for each letter. Might come in handy.”

“Oh, these are wonderful, thank you!” Parr reaches up to hug Anna, and once they separate, Parr gently guides Mae’s hand to touch her chin before extending it forward. “That’s thank you, Mae.”

Anna scrunches her nose at the sight, slightly caressing Mae’s head. “No problem at all, babes! I hope she enjoys them.”

“Would you mind playing with us for a bit?” Parr offers, and upon looking down, Mae has already dropped the teething ring to the floor and reaching for the box.

“I would want nothing more.”

* * *

It was a rare occurrence for the queens to not go home immediately after the show was done, but for that evening, they had to stay once the audience had cleared for a few adjustments and announcements.

By the time they got home, it was already past midnight and Parr, Jane, and Anne make a beeline towards their respective children. Aragon looks over to the living room and finds her Mary asleep with her mouth open and a baby towel draped over her shoulder.

Parr walks up the steps and enters her room, finding Mae lying down in her crib, babbling softly.

“And what are you still doing awake, hmm?” Parr asks, lifting her up into her arms and Mae almost immediately snuggles deeper in her embrace. “Oh, you just wanted your Mama. I’ve missed you too, baby.”

Parr hears a knock at the door, and she turns around to find Kat already in her pyjamas.

“Hi Cathy, I just, um,” Kat stammers, looking down at her feet. “I usually stay with Jane on late nights but she has her hands full with Edward and I’d hate to be a bother but I know Mae usually sleeps through the night and—“

“Yes, Kit, you can sleep here tonight, no worries.” Parr smiles, and Kat mumbles a thank you before situating herself on the bed. Parr looks at her expectantly, allowing her to sit up against the headboard first before transferring a drowsy Mae in Kat’s arms.

“Sleepy,” Parr signs, putting her palms together and resting her tilted head against the back of her hand. “She should be down for the count. Just hold her please while I get ready for bed, she might rouse if I put her down immediately.”

“Yes, of course, I’ve got her,” Kat whispers. Parr gives her a quick nod before she rushes to the bathroom with her pyjamas in hand. Kat looks down at Mae and she opens her eyes blearily, appearing to be slightly cross-eyed, making her giggle lightly.

She pulls out one hand from her hold and repeats the motion Parr showed her earlier. “Go to sleep, Mae. Cathy’s gonna be back in a while.”

* * *

Anne had wanted to surprise Parr.

Whenever she had the chance to be with Mae alone, she would repeat all the signs that she’s noticed Parr show to her in hopes that it would help with her recall and eventually respond back.

Several weeks later, she wishes she had recorded the moment but it catches the both of them off guard.

Anne had sat Mae in her high chair and the minute Parr walks into the kitchen, Mae squeals and pats her temple with her fingers.

“Oh, Cathy! Did you see?” Anne cries, kissing Mae’s temple. Parr laughs as she takes Mae out of the high chair and lifts her up into the air. Anne could’ve sworn that she was absolutely glowing.

Parr brings her down in her arms and peppers her face with kisses. “Oh, you’ve got it, darling! What’s my name?”

Mae looks up at Parr with a gummy smile before repeating the motion of her tapping the side of her forehead. Parr exhales loudly, a dopey smile permanently fixed on her face.

“That’s right, baby. I’m Mama. Mama,” Parr praises, repeating the sign with the correct finger form. Mae turns in her arms and reaches out for Anne, who gladly takes her.

“Look, darling, you’ve made your Mama so happy,” Anne grins, kissing her cheek. Mae puts a hand on Anne’s chest before bringing it to her own, and that was enough to make Cathy burst into tears.

“Oh, you clever girl,” Parr’s voice wobbles with emotion. Anne cocks her head to the side, not sure what exactly happened. “Can you say that again?”

“What, Cathy? What did she say?” Anne asks, and she feels a tiny palm tap against her chest before Mae puts it back on her own again and keeping it there.

“Annie, she said she loves you.” Parr explains, and Anne was stunned for a moment before hugging the small child in her arms tightly, making her giggle.

“I love you, too, sweet girl,” Anne coos, kissing the top of her head repeatedly. She looks up and catches Parr’s attention before reaching up to bring her hand to her chest.

Parr exhales, her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much. She mirrors Anne, keeping her hands over her chest, their eyes never losing contact.

Parr's heart blooms. 


End file.
